Editing Macha (section)

==Macha, daughter of Ernmas==
Macha, daughter of [[Ernmas]], of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], appears in many early sources. She is often mentioned together with her sisters, "[[Badb]] and [[The Morrígan|Morrigu]], whose name was [[Anann|Anand]]".<ref name=LGE-62,64>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' §62, 64] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715225248/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html |date=15 July 2010 }}</ref> The three (with varying names) are often considered a [[Triple deities#Triple goddesses|triple goddess]] associated with war.<ref>James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'', Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 281–282</ref> ''O'Mulconry's Glossary'', a thirteenth-century compilation of [[gloss (annotation)|glosses]] from medieval manuscripts preserved in the ''[[Yellow Book of Lecan]]'', describes Macha as "one of the three ''morrígna''" (the plural of ''[[Morrígan]]''), and says the term ''Mesrad Machae'', "the [[Mast (botany)|mast]] of Macha", refers to "the heads of men that have been slaughtered". A version of the same gloss in MS H.3.18 identifies Macha with Badb, calling the trio "raven women" who instigate battle.<ref>Angelique Gulermovich Epstein, ''War Goddess: The Morrígan and her Germano-Celtic Counterparts'', September 1998, pp. 49–52.</ref> Keating explicitly calls them "goddesses",<ref>Geoffrey Keating, ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text021.html 1.11]</ref> but medieval Irish tradition was keen to remove all trace of pre-Christian religion. Macha is said to have been killed by [[Balor]] during the battle with the [[Fomorians]].<ref name=LGE-60,62,64>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' §60, 62, 64] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715225248/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html |date=15 July 2010 }}</ref><ref name=stokes>Whitley Stokes (ed & trans), ''[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T300011.html The Second Battle of Moytura]'', p. 101</ref>